Sports Legends....

This blog was originally written the weekend of Jeter's 3000th. I didn't realize it never got posted!!! Sorry

This weekend Derek Jeter, of the NY Yankees did something no other Yankee had ever done, made 3,000 hits while wearing the only uniform he ever has, pinstripes. While you could see he was overjoyed in having done so, his celebration on the field and off were low-key, jsut as everything he does is. While many of my friends who know me, know that while I don't embrace the Yankee's as my favorite team, I do however possess a certain fondness for Mr. Jeter. He is truly a gentleman.

Another of my favorites is Cal Ripken Jr., while many players don a uniform and play, he played every game because it was his "job". He missed the birth of a child, because it was his "job" to be with his team. He treated playing baseball, which in his own words he "loves" as his job.

David Beckham, while I really do not follow soccer, or the scandal sheets. I do know he is married to one of the "Spice Girls". They both have appeared on the covers of magazines, more because of their celebrity, and less because of gossip.

Serena & Venus Williams, are two women all girls should look up to. While being extremely talented on  the tennis court, they are sucessful off of it as well. On occassion one might read about them being seen at a posh restaurant or nightclub.

It is too bad that more of our children's heroes could not be more like these sports firgures. With money comes great responsibility. 

I am Italian-American

Next time you're watching a rerun of the Sopranos and think Italian-Americans are all about organized crime remember this (see below) .

I am an Italian American 

My roots are deep in an ancient soil, drenched by the Mediterranean sun, and watered by pure streams from snow capped mountains. I am enriched by thousands of years of culture.

My hands are those of the mason, the artist, the man of the soil.

My thoughts have been recounted in the annals of Rome, the poetry of Virgil, the creations of Dante, and the philosophy of Benedetto Croce.

I am an Italian-American, and from my ancient world, I first spanned the seas to the New World. I am Cristoforo Colombo.

I am Giovanni Caboto known in American History as John Cabot, discoverer of the mainland of North America.

I am Amerigo Vespucci, who gave my name to the New World, America

First to sail on the Great Lakes in 1679, founder of the territory that became the State of Illinois, colonizer of Louisiana and Arkansas, I am Enrico Tonti.

I am Filippo Mazzei friend of Thomas Jefferson, and my thesis on the equality of man was written into the Bill of Rights.

I am William Paca, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

I am an Italian-American; I financed the Northwest Expedition of George Rogers Clark and accompanied him through the lands that would become Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. I am Colonel Francesco Vigo.

I mapped the Pacific from Mexico to Alaska and to the Philippines, I am Alessandro Malaspina.

I am Giacomo Belinimi, discoverer of the source of the Mississippi River in 1823.

I created the Dome of the United States Capitol. They call me the Michelangelo of America. I am Constantino Brumidi.

In 1904, I founded in San Francisco, the Bank of Italy now known as the Bank of America, the largest financial institution in the world, I am A.P. Giannini.

I am Enrico Fermi, father of nuclear science in America.

I am Steve Geppi, founder of Diamond Comics, the largest distributorship of comics on the planet.

I am the first enlisted man to earn the Medal of Honor in World War II; I am John Basilone of New Jersey.

I am an Italian-American.

I am the million strong who served in America's armies and the tens of thousands whose names are enshrined in military cemeteries from Guadalcanal to the Rhine.

I am the steel maker in Pittsburgh, the grower in the Imperial Valley of California, the textile designer in Manhattan, the movie maker in Hollywood, the homemaker and the breadwinner in over 10,000 communities.

I am an American without stint or reservation, loving this land as only one who understands history, its agonies and its triumphs can love and serve it.

I will not be told that my contribution is any less nor my role not as worthy as that of any other American.

I will stand in support of this nation's freedom and protect against all foes.

My heritage has dedicated me to this nation. I am proud of my heritage, and I shall remain worthy of it.

I am an Italian-American.

~~~Many thanks to Sal Scalice who wrote this on his Facebook wall.~~

 I borrowed it because it is important to me that people know that being Italian-American is way more than "The Godfather", "The Soprano's", "Mafia" or anything else related to crime. It is a feeling of family, whether you live in Brooklyn, Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, or like me Syracuse, NY. It is the one thing no matter what part of Italy your parents, grand parents, great-grand parents came from you understand that "family" is just that, "family". We sit down to Sunday dinner together, talk loudly about the weeks events, share a meal that may include: Antipasti, Pasta, Wine, Italian Bread, Meatballs, Sausage, Sauce (or Gravy) depending on where you are from, Wine (Homemade is best!), laughter, friendship, and love. 

POLITICAL DISSATISFACTION...

"Poll: 79 percent of Americans dissatisfied with U.S. political system" it took a poll to tell me or anyone else that??? I didn't think so. The so called powers that be in Washing ton "think" they are doing a "good" job. I forgot, they were thinking again--of themselves, their cronies, their earmarks, their own agendas while everyday Americans are left holding the bag. Talk about holding the bag, before you leave office, you need to write a check (make sure it DOES NOT BOUNCE!) for the amount equal to what you placed into your "golden parachute" made payable to the Social Security Administration. Then you can write another check to your constituents for all of the money you spent without having their best interests in mind. 

WAKE UP WASHINGTON....Your days in office have a number on them, and for some of you there, after November 8th, you will need to clean out your desk, give out pink slips to your aids, administrative staff, and driver only making the unemployment figures go higher. But did you care about that while you were making deals, throwing parties, missing votes, and lining your pockets? I did not think so. But change will do you good. However, I truly doubt corporate America is ready for anyone as lazy as you. You see when you work for corporate America, you only get paid for the time you actually sit at your desk (or machine if you work on the line), get an hour for lunch,  one to two weeks per year vacation, and you may have to pay for your benefits (most employers cannot afford what you did to the healthcare system). By the way, you will have to navigate streets, subways, bike paths, or however you are getting to work. This means, being late doesn't cut it. If I have to be to work at 8:00 a.m. sharp so do you! There is no one to fetch your coffee, get your lunch, dry cleaning, send your wife flowers, or walk your dog. You see you made this bed, now lie in it!!! 

WASHINGTON, HEED THIS WARNING....LIKE THE BOB DYLAN SONG STATES, "...times they are a changing...". YOU HAVE BANKRUPTED THIS COUNTRY WITH YOUR SPENDING, YOUR LAVISH WAYS, AND VACATIONS. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF HAVING TO WORK OVERTIME TO FEED THEIR FAMILIES, PAY BILLS, KEEP THEIR HOMES, CARS, PUT A CHILD (or CHILDREN) THROUGH COLLEGE. MANY PEOPLE ARE BARELY SCRAPING BY, WHILE OTHERS FEEL THEY ARE ENTITLED TO FOOD STAMPS WHILE CONTINUING TO DRIVE BMW'S, CADILLAC'S, LEXUS', MERCEDES, AND DRESSING BETTER THAN THE PEOPLE TAKING THEIR APPLICATIONS. WHAT ABOUT ALL OF THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO CONTINUE TO COLLECT SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS WITHOUT EVER HAVING PAID INTO THEM?

Military Retirement Cut to 25%

This is a re-post from an ACTIVE DUTY SERVICE MEMBER: "The government took the militaries retirement plan... only get 25% now and it works towards your 401K that you cant touch until you're 68....no more 20 years and retire... :: MEANWHILE :: the politicians send us to war... make 6 figures & still get their 90% when they decide to retire... DAMN AMERICA ( more specifically DC .... ) You have brought me to a loss of words this time !"

Isn't it amazing that the people we elect have done this to the very people who keep us free? I think we need to re-visit this issue with our Congressmen & Senators to set them straight....THEY wear a uniform, THEY are proud to serve us, the AMERICAN people, THEY DESERVE EVERY DIME they receive in benefits and more. RETIRING members of our military should receive what they are entitled to which is: 50% of their active duty pay, PERIOD; lifetime medical and accessibility to any military installation to shop, watch a movie, bowl, golf, or have coffee with friends.

When are we going to learn America that those in Washington are out serve themselves, not the people that elected them. NO, I do not mean those who actually work, vote and do the right thing for their constituents. I am a firm believer in taking out the trash, I believe it is time we do so!!!

Now I will put away my soapbox...

Tea Party's Fault

Per David Axelrod, the White House Press Secretary, the "Tea Party" is to blame for everything that has happened in the last five days. Hmmmmm, so it wasn't the "Bush Era" or anything else. WOW, does he need a rude awakening. 

The "Tea Party" has been around for about 3 to 4 years give or take a few months. This so-called problem has been around for the last 25 years. Or maybe I have my facts backwards. After all I am just an average American  trying to figure out my next move. 

This problem was NOT begun because the "Tea Party" formed, it was formed because the legislators in BOTH houses do NOT know how to read a balance sheet. Those are the simple facts. The fact is we are entitling people to benefits they do not deserve, yet our children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren will still be paying for these benefits because the powers that be cannot control their spending. 

Recently I quoted Dave Ramsey, who if you do not know who he is, is a man who helps people get out of debt, and stay out of debt by doing one thing, STOP SPENDING. Maybe those in Washington need a lecture from him to figure out how to do this. One of my friends, after posting this on my Facebook page stated the following, "... How about Congress and the Senate contribute to their pensions and health care. How about the Obama clan QUIT TAKING VACATIONS on the American people. Put those millions to better use. MAKE NANCY PELOSI PAY BACK THE MILLIONS FROM ALL OF HER PLANE RIDES ...hmmm. And they have the nerve to complain about corporate America...". Her words actually make sense if one truly thinks about it.   Yes other sitting president's and their families have taken vacations on the American taxpayer, however NONE of those presidents were facing the financial mess we are in today.

When the United State's S&P rating was dropped from AAA to AA+ President Obama should have immediately called both houses of Congress back to Washington to fix this mess. Instead, he went on a fund raising campaign to be re-elected. Really? Do you truly and honestly think the American public wants another four years of debt, socialization, and programs that ONLY benefit those who have not worked or paid into OUR COUNTRY?? Get real, America is fed up with the so called status quo in Washington. President Obama's first order of business should be demanding is a "Balanced Budget Amendment". This amendment has been stalled on the house floor for so many years I don't even know if anyone even has the original document. Don't laugh, you and I have to live on a budget, why can't the government? If you are only making $15K a year and spending $25K a year, there is a HUGE problem. It is called living beyond your means. When President Obama asked the AMerican public to "tighten their belts" why didn't both houses of Congress do the same? Why did he and his family take a posh vacation to Hawaii? Why not do the car trip thing like most American's have to do? Why vacation at all when you have a government that is hemorrhaging money at a pace we can never catch up to? 

I think America & American's need to wake up and smell the coffee. The pot has boiled over, and it has created a huge mess all over the stove!!! Incumbents in both houses need to go in the next election cycle. Do you honestly think America can afford to keep people who have no idea how to balance a checkbook, let alone have huge pensions, a winter home, summer home, vacation villa, and a platinum credit card supplied by the American taxpayer, to keep making decisions that have put us in debt, and unable to pay? Just think about it before you answer, and make the right decision come November when it really will count!!!

S&P and Dave Ramsey...

‎"If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand." -Dave Ramsey

When are those in Washington, the president, senators and congressman alike going to understand that we cannot keep spending money we DO NOT have??? What is it going to take to make them see that all of their mayhem & foolishness (what would you call it?) has caused Standard & Poors (S&P) to drop our rating from AAA to AA+. 

It wasn't the American people who did this, it was the people in Washington with their projects, earmarks, committees and anything else they can shove into the budget to get away with stripping the American taxpayers of their hard earned cash.  I doubt any politician who has been in more than two terms could hold a job in corporate America. Yes, in my opinion they are that lazy!!! I doubt Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Boehner or any other politician actually knows that as Vince Lombardi once stated, "...That the dictionary is the only place that success comes before the word work...". 

Everyone in Washington blames Glenn Beck, or the Tea Party for the problems. Never point a finger, there are three pointing back at you. Washington needs to stop all foreign aid, stop "entitlements" to illegal immigrants (whom by the way refuse to learn English or have their children learn English), payback into Social Security what they have so wrongly put into "golden parachutes" for themselves, learn to ride the train, bus, walk to work like many American's do daily, reduce all of the government departments (i.e.: like the 5 or 6 that are under the Dept. of Education) into one single department, reduce their staff to a minimum of 5-7 people who earn what their counterparts in the "real world" do not the inflated salaries they are earning at the American taxpayers expense. America needs to close our borders, period. No immigration, legal or otherwise. Bring home our armed forces let them guard our borders like they do in every other country of the world. Put those in jail who cross into our country illegally, begin to charge taxes to the churches and entities that are "tax free" who shelter illegal immigrants which include some cities which need to be taxed at a higher rate for allowing illegal immigrants to "squat" and allow the American taxpayer to pay for it. 

My grandparents came here from Italy. They had to learn English, had to hold jobs, had to follow the rules. Why are we allowing immigrants coming to America currently to overrun us with, "Push 2, 9, star for Spanish" and yes I do realize that in some of our southern border states that Spanish is sometimes spoken more than English. However are those who are speaking that language here in America, actually legally able to live here in America or have we just made it easier for them to "blend in" by making signs in Spanish? There is a neighborhood in Tacoma , WA that has been funded by totally by the American taxpayer for illegal immigrants (click on the link below to watch the video)*. After I watched the video it made me mad, we have men and women who are veteran's who live on the streets, in shelters because of PTSD and other things that have happened to them because they chose to wear a uniform. Why isn't their a wonderful housing project for them? Isn't it amazing that elderly Americans, who actually paid into the Social Security system as well as others who paid into it but were hurt on the job, have to scrimp for every penny to pay for prescriptions, food, rent, insurance, etc. while immigrants are living in the lap of luxury. If you didn't pay into it, you don't deserve to reap the benefits from it. 

Do you ever wonder why when you dial most 800 numbers that there person on the other end of the line is in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc? It is because Washington sent our jobs there. Our elected officials actually gave tax breaks to American companies to close plants, offices, here in America and send our jobs overseas. Does this make sense to you? I doesn't make sense to me either. 

Things need to change. But in order for change to happen we need to begin to voice our opinions and be heard. Stand up, be counted, ask questions, write letters. Talk about this among your friends & family. Now I will put my soapbox away for another day. 

*  http://media.causes.com/1098660?p_id=46741712&amp%3Bs=fb_feed